UPDATE: Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledgerreports that Sabathia will be placed on the disabled list.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi told Carig that Sabathia initially felt stiffness in the elbow in his first start back from a groin injury on July 17, but an MRI came back clean. The stiffness went away, but he felt something in the elbow again after his last start on Tuesday.

The move is retroactive to Thursday, so he’ll be eligible to return on August 23. Girardi continues to say that his level of concern is “pretty low,” so it appears the Yankees are just playing things safe here. Still, it’s tough not to be concerned if you’re a Bombers fan.

1:03 PM: Here’s a potentially troubling development for the first-place Yankees.

Sabathia gave up five runs (three earned) over 6 2/3 innings Wednesday against the Tigers and holds a 3.56 ERA through 20 starts this season. No pitcher has thrown more innings than Sabathia since the start of the 2003 season. Only Mark Buehrle has logged more innings since Sabathia made his major league debut in 2001. The Yankees are downplaying the situation right now, but you can bet they are hoping the miles on his arm aren’t catching up with him.

He already had an MRI and it didn’t show anything. The Yankees seem to be leaning on their lead a bit here. Sabathia didn’t want to miss his start let alone go on the DL. They are just protecting their investment.

Amazing how the Yankees keep these things quiet. He’s had some elbow discomfort for 2 weeks. Had an MRI before Wednesday’s start. It came back clean. Felt more discomfort during the Detroit game. Yesterday’s bullpen was concerning. Will have another MRI on Monday.

Precautionary I’d assume. Why push it when their chances of making post season are pretty good. O’s have an opportunity to keep climbing here but odds are by the time CC comes back they’ll be 2GB at best.